Top 10 Fantastic Four Facts

Script written by Clayton Martino
 

Top 10 Fantastic Four Facts

 
One of the most important creations in Marvel history, this team existed before Spider-Man, Wolverine, and even the Avengers! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Fantastic Four Facts. For this list, we are putting the focus more on real world facts about Marvel’s First Family, as opposed to specific plot points that occurred in the films or comics.  
 

#10: The First Comic is Worth $800,000

The first issue in a series featuring a famous comic book character can make you rich very quickly, something that is pretty remarkable considering they cost as little as 10 cents when they were first released. 1961’s Fantastic Four #1, for example, is valued up to $800,000, as long as it is in tip-top condition. Heck, even an ungraded copy that is in mediocre condition can earn you several hundred dollars, depending on the buyer. If you have a ton of old comics put away in boxes in your attic, you may want to go through them – you could be sitting on a gold mine.
 

#9: Bill Murray Played the Human Torch

Sure, Bill Murray himself may actually be a superhero, but it’s hard to picture him playing one of the Marvel characters. Well, before he joined Saturday Night Live in 1977, that’s exactly what he did. Murray provided the voice of the Human Torch in a 1975 radio show. Although it only lasted ten episodes, the show featured the entire Fantastic Four team along with Ant-Man, Nick Fury, and the Hulk, and was narrated by Stan Lee. Plus, it had Bill freakin’ Murray!
 

#8: Invisible Girl Became Invisible Woman

The first version of Sue Storm in the comics was a tad ridiculous to say the least. For starters, she was married to Reed Richards despite being nearly 20 years younger than him. She was also pretty much useless - the writers relegated her to the stereotypical damsel in distress role, and the other members of the team would have to repeatedly rescue her from the villain. When John Byrne started writing the book in the 1980s however, he changed her name from Invisible Girl to Invisible Woman and gave her more powers, including a powerful force field attack, which finally made her a prominent member of the team.  

#7: The Thing Starred in an Animated Series

In 1979 The Thing received his own kid-focused TV show that was part of a 10-episode crossover special, but more on that later. There were several changes to his character, however. For example, the main character of the show as a boy named Benjy Grimm who could transform into the Thing by placing his magic rings together. He also needed to shout “Thing ring, do your thing!” to begin the transformation. Even more bizarrely, the Thing spent most of his time protecting his friends from practical jokes.



#6: The Thing Almost Met The Flintstones

The Thing has had some strange adventures in his day, but by far one of the weirdest moments was when he shared a show with Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. The show was misleadingly-titled “Fred and Barney Meet The Thing”, despite the fact that the characters are never actually together. Instead, the hour long program featured a half hour show revolving around The Thing while the other half focused on Fred and Barney. The character was also changed significantly, but we’ll get into that shortly. Thankfully, the show only lasted for three months.
 

#5: The Movie Rights May Be Going Back to Marvel

Have you ever wondered why we haven’t seen the Fantastic Four in the Avengers’ Marvel Cinematic Universe? You can thank the suits for that. While Marvel Studios has the film rights to many characters, including Iron Man and Captain America, it does not have the rights to the Fantastic Four, as they belong to Fox. Due to the recent disaster that was the 2015 Fantastic Four film however, all that may be changing. Rumours claim that Marvel has given Fox access to properties of Hellfire Club and Legion in exchange for the Fantastic Four. If that’s true, we could be seeing a recast Fantastic Family on-screen with the Avengers sometime in the near future.
 

#4: The Unlicensed Fantastic Four Film That Was Never Released

It’s no secret that it has been difficult adapting the Fantastic Four to the big screen, with all three films receiving backlash from fans and critics alike. The struggle goes as far back as 1994, however, when German producer Bernd Eichinger made a low-budget Fantastic Four film to retain the rights. He failed to tell his director or actors, however, who all thought they were making a legit movie. The film, which had a budget of just $1 million and was directed by B-Movie legend Roger Corman, was never released in theatres.


 

#3: The Line-up Has Changed

Similar to the Avengers, the Fantastic Four roster has changed several times. In fact, every member of the Fantastic Four has left to join a different team at one point or another. As a result, the team has had a large number of additional members, including Luke Cage, She-Hulk, Black Panther, and Ant-Man. There was also a team called “The New Fantastic Four” which featured a completely new line-up consisting of Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider.
 

#2: They Were Created Marvel’s Answer to The Justice League

It comes as no surprise that there is a huge rivalry between DC Comics and Marvel Comics, and as a result each company has created similar characters and storylines over the years. This professional rivalry may have helped created the Fantastic Four. According to some sources, Marvel was jealous of the success of the Justice League, and wanted to create their own superhero team. Others, however, note the similarities between the Fantastic Four and DC’s Challengers of the Unknown, and claim that Marvel’s team is nothing more than a DC rip-off.
 Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honourable mentions:
 
Johnny Storm Wasn’t The First Human Torch


Yes, He Has a Thing
 
They’ve All Died
 
The Frightful Four
 

#1: They Saved Stan Lee’s career

Whether you are a comic book fan or not, nearly everyone has heard of Stan Lee. Lee had some success writing Captain America stories in the early 1940s, but following the war the superhero genre began to fade out. Lee almost left the industry, but thanks to a new assignment and the urging of his wife, he decided to create the Fantastic Four, a team of superheroes with a flawed humanity. The overwhelmingly positive response to the team convinced Lee to stay in the industry, and he would go on to create some of the most famous characters of all-time.
 
Do you agree with our list? What is your favourite Fantastic Four fact? For more great Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.